Do You Believe in Magic?

Do You Believe in Magic?

It was a long 8 years since the Detroit Tigers experienced some magic and it did not look good for the future either.

Then, in 1976 the magic arrived in a tall lanky, awkward-looking red-headed pitcher. But if the fans were fooled by the looks, they soon learned to love this young kid as he won game after game.

They were soon calling him The Bird or Big Bird because of his stature and unkempt hair. What was special about this young kid besides winning games on the way to a 20-win season?

Mark Fidrych captured the imagination of fans around the country as he talked to the ball and himself willing the ball to go where he told it to go. He was his own ground crew as he manicured the mound each inning. Winning was fun for him but baseball had never seen anything like him. At the end of the inning, he would congratulate the infielders and outfielders as they headed for the dugout. When he won, he would run around the stadium and shake hands with anyone the extended theirs. He even shook hands with the ground crew and the police officers stationed along the first base dugout.

Mark was one of those players that baseball and the Tigers needed as the viewing audience had waned some and now everyone wanted to watch this quirky kid talk to the ball and manicure the mound. The Bird was a real phenomenon that caught the interest of everyone.

He made you laugh so hard that tears would run down your face. But what he did was win and that made the game seem like magic and Mark was the magician

In 1976 he was the Rookie of Year and had a record of 19-9. Even in losses, the crowd would not leave the stadium until Mark came out for a curtain call.

IN 1977 Mark injured a knee while fooling around in the outfield but started the season on the injured list. When he returned, he began right where he left off in 1976. However, 6 weeks after his return in a game against Baltimore he felt his arm “go dead”. The injury wasn’t diagnosed and forced his retirement and was not diagnosed in the mid-'80s.

In retirement, he worked his 107-acre farm and worked with local kids at the baseball field close to his home.

In 2009 everything came to a tragic end when Mark died after he suffocated while working on his truck when his clothes became entangled in the gears.

I do not believe there will ever be another “Bird.”

Personally, he was my kind of ballplayer; he enjoyed the game to the fullest. Talking to the ball? I never did that, but pitchers often talk to themselves, and I did too. I even answered myself. I called that a lefty’s privilege because lefties were different and quirky.

I miss that quirkiness today because it made the game more interesting, and you could not wait to tune in to see what would happen next.

Mark was magic for Detroit and baseball for a season and a half. Perhaps he was magic for baseball when it needed some magic. Fans People still talk about Mark and his antics and quirkiness on the field.

There have been characters before Mark, but he was one in a million. While other characters have been forgotten Mark is unforgettable and, that is what separates him from the other characters of baseball. I don’t think he will ever be forgotten because he brought his brand of the “x-factor” without even knowing that he was magic for baseball. That is why he was special.